To think home education will surge in popularity after this?

[Julyalready2020]

I realise lots of people aren’t able to home ed- or wouldn’t want to in a million years! - but for those who’ve considered it, AIBU to think there will now be a rise in them taking the plunge?

Time off school - without the school run, stress of homework/bullying, tests etc... kids able to pursue their own interests and lead a more relaxed life - maybe this will appeal to some?

For context, I don’t home educate (beyond lockdown!), but have considered it in the past and will again if the return to school doesn’t go well... I do also think school (esp in its present form) doesn’t suit all kids.

Home Ed is great. The only issue can be the cost of GCSEs but aside
From that it’s the best choice in my opinion

As someone who home educates and has some in school, we have really struggled in this time.

This is is not our normal life, I wouldn't want to home educate like this for the long term. One of my children was due to leave school to be home ed in Sept. This time has put him off that.
And my eldest has decided to try college as lockdown home ed has been so rubbish.

A friend, however who has been desperate to home ed but unsure of taking the plunge has absolutely loved this time. She has definitely decided they want to do it. Unfortunately they now don't have the job security they had before. So will have to wait.

I can't see hundreds rushing to home ed now.
Except for those whose children should be shielding, or who have SEN. Many are very worried about chucking the kids back into school as normal, but with little social distancing and less SEN support.

Those who do home educate - would you be able to say something about what your normal days/weeks are like (when not in lockdown)? I’m interested to hear how it differs to this (doing worksheets from school, no groups/museums/visits etc).

I wish I could. The kids are happy at home, progressing well academically and don’t really mention school that much. I am a p/t primary school teacher. As a PP said, I’d like to do it when we could go out and about on trips and meet other people, I think my children would really thrive in that situation.

I am also worried about how disruptive next school year is going to be. I feel almost stupid for putting my happy, settled children into the uncertainty and reduced curriculum being proposed. Now the government are actually admitting that kids can catch it and spread it I’m worried about their health and mine, too. We are currently enjoying seeing grandparents again, DH and I are not sure about seeing them once the children and I are cramped into school with no social distancing.

Unfortunately, giving up my job isn’t an option just now. When the kids were going to have P/T schooling, I had considered not putting them in and homeschooling them for three days, we’d definitely get through enough work in three days. Maybe this is still an option. The situation is so messy and unclear.

I am a part time secondary teacher and a single mum to a 13yo boy.

I home educated him for a couple of years or so when he was younger and we traveled (I was doing freelance work online at the time and getting by).

I feel really quite sad about ds going back to school in a way. I know school is shit, I know how much time is used on behaviour management and trying to deal with 30 kids crammed elbow to elbow with limited resources, huge range of abilities and motivation and social problems and I know much of the content is a waste of time.

If I was independently wealthy I’d take him out of school again and employ tutors and probably aim to have maths and English gcses banked within a year or so and then study an industry recognised ict qualification to gain alongside whatever subjects interested him. I think the being wealthy would not only mean being able to afford to pay tutors etc but would also give me confidence in bucking the trend and knowing we could course correct and do whatever worked.

Sadly though I’ll be sending him back to the juvenile detention centre aka a school.

Maybe some might be happy to do it for primary, but I suspect a lot of those wouldn't be quite so keen for secondary. Generally the work gets harder as do the kids!

I think also that this year's assessed grades for GCSEs and A levels has seriously disadvantaged HE kids where they haven't been able to supply centre-assessed work, and therefore won't be getting their qualifications. This needs addressing by both sides to ensure the system can work for everyone should this situation re-occur.

@Julyalready2020
I home Ed my 3 primary age dc.
We’ve struggled in lockdown as being stuck at home 7 days a week is not easy.
A normal week for us would be attending forest school one afternoon, home Ed sports class one morning, book club at our library one morning per fortnight, lots of days out at museums, parks, meeting friends etc.
We probably spend 2 fulls days at home and one or two half days doing some more formal learning.
The children also attend regular swimming classes and brownies/cubs groups locally.
This is a good balance for us as home Ed is not about trying to replicate school at home with worksheets and curriculums.
Saying that I do sometimes refer to the skills and some topic areas on the NC to get ideas and to ensure the older kids are on target in maths and English skills.
For our family it works well. The children mostly respond well to me being mum and ‘teacher’ although I don’t act ‘teacher-y’!
I realize we are also very privileged to be able to do this.
It works because they follow their interests and that motivates them. They learn writing and reading within the context on an Interest. Maths can be done practically but some does have to be written especially as they grow older.

I can see that lockdown will have made some parents realise how good a thing it is and many others not. But I know from looking at our local school’s website that what has been going on for children this last few months is not home education. It’s a sort of school distance learning. It’s so very different to what we and my home ed friends do!

Unfortunately I think you are right.
And it’s unfortunate because people will use the reasons you have given in your OP and none of them are good enough reasons to homeschool.
I suspect some people will also homeschool because some people in the household are shielding/vulnerable. Or because they are fearful.

The problem is, homeschooling is a full time job and requires a lot of input from parents. It’s also not always as simple as ‘leaving the child pursuing his interests’. If it was, my dcs wouod not have done any English literature and Ds2 would have spent his time walking/running/climbing. All very good but very useful later in life.
So you would need to plan outings to a museum (are they open?), looking at specific themes To spark their interest etc... Incl stuff you, as a person, don’t particularly like or have any idea about.
That’s wo talking about the fact you never have a break from each other and the situation ca;easily becomes explosive anyway.

So maybe, this will be the final push for some people who already have interest in it. But I am worried this will look like the right solution to a lot of other issues and that will be detrimental to the child.

The home schooling experience we've all had in the last 3 months is not the same as proper long term home schooling.

Maybe for some but for me, it's a hard pass. I'm a useless teacher.

@Sunshiney1981

Thanks for your reply

Did you find your kids are naturally motivated to learn? One worry I have is that, if I home educated full time, my DC would never want to do anything!

Home education is rising rapidly amongst parents of chikdren who have SEN because its so hard to get support due to funding cuts. Many of thrse children its not a choice but a forced position. Seeing the new behaviour guidelines i think we will see a hige increase in peoole making this 'choice'. I also think a lot of children who were highly anxious at school will have thrived learning at home and parents may sign up to online schools on that basis.

@QuestionMarkNow - thanks, I agree with some of what you say. But as far as I understand it, people home educate for all kinds of reasons and in lots of different ways - there is unschooling, for example, which is completely child-led.

Also I’m not sure it’s necessarily a ‘full time job’? AFAIK lots of home educating parents do work, usually part time and home based...

I feel a bit sad thinking they spend most of their lives doing stuff they don’t enjoy- but maybe they do enjoy the work more at school? I don’t know.

I don’t know if my dcs have been more honest than others but I can’t ever have heard them say they enjoy school. Sure, ds1 enjoys seeing his friends.
But for the rest of the time? Nope. You have some schools and some teachers that are not as bad. Some that can make them smile sometimes. And some that create an environment that is more suitable for them. But I think that hoping school is an enjoyable experience is a bit if a dream.

It’s a shame btw because I remember enjoying school as a child. I wasn’t in the uk though and certainly never have had to face the crowd control issues that seem to always happen, regardless of the school. I wast feeling bored because I was allowed to skip one year and was working at my level rather than my age level etc....

School is different. At school, they've got their break/play time and lunch time to look forward to where they get to play with their friends, they have school trips to look forward to and the events that the school offer. Children that thrive at school and are able to make friends will no doubt be a lot more motivated at school than they would be at home at their parents will be dying to get them back. The children that don't thrive at school, perhaps through bullying or social interaction issues, would perhaps thrive better in a home learning situation where socialisation isn't thrust upon them everyday and their parents can choose moments where it's best to socialise their child/ren.

I think with the second category, the parents might think more of home schooling. Even the ones with jobs. I can imagine there's some parents sat at night doing their sums and trying to work out how they can home school because they've seen a change in their child for the better. I think this will be a tiny minority but LA's should perhaps look at ways in which teachers and education officials can encourage some parents to home school with the help of professionals

@Julyalready2020, have you tried to work from home, even part time, during the lockdown?

I can see how you could manage that with secondary school children but I would have thought primary school children need more input than that tbh.

From what I've seen on social media, those who were earth mumming it at the beginning, sanguine with "we might just keep home educating", "just our little family", etc etc are now reporting total meltdowns, have given up the "schooling" part of home schooling, have aged rapidly and are losing the will to live.

Some (who can) have now obtained their key worker letter to get their kids back in school.

If this was a taster for home ed, it won't see any great conversion to perm. There will be thrilled queues back to the school gate in Sept.

@wagtailred that’s interesting - I also saw a reference to less SEN support upthread?

What is it about the new school set up that will make it more difficult for SEN kids, so you think?

I was thinking the exact opposite, less people will consider it after having to do it now.

At the moment though, we're getting a lot of content and material from teachers, who know the level our DC are working at, and what is included in the curriculum.
While I think some things are a bit pointless (has anyone used trigonometry in RL, out of school?) And other things would be more helpful (how a credit card works, what different types of mortgages there are, and how they work), I would need to know or find how to teach everything if I wanted my DC to have mainstream recognised exams like gcses, to enable them to access further education. Also my DS has had 2 days a week back at school and the thing he talks about is not what work he did but what he and his friends played at lunchtime (which homeschooling could not offer)
When I was a teenager I asked my dad if he could teach me to drive. He said "I could teach you to drive, but you need an instructor to teach you to pass the test"

Having watched with horror as various parents I know have acted as though they have zero responsibility for their child's education I can only hope that this country follows Germany's lead and makes it illegal. At the same time though they need a proper curriculum and not this ridiculous "academic" focus for under 7s that crushes the joy of learning for at least half of children.

No way for me. It has laid to rest any delusions I had about a) thinking I would have enjoyed teaching and b) thinking home-schooling would be lovely.

My DCs teachers are amazing and I will never compete.

I have a son who is 9 and had terrible anxiety.. we feared he was being bullied and raised this with the school several times. He was also no longer able to look in the mirror because he felt he was ugly, hated his teeth, nose, hair ..! He started to punish himself for not being good enough by punching his own face. (I witnessed this once and immediately sought help)..

Since lockdown I have a beautiful son, willing to learn and laughing again.

So yes I'm one of those small minority who will do whatever it takes to keep my son safe and happy! I'm fortunate that I work remotely always and my time is flexible. Even if that wasn't the case, I would not send him back to school.

@QuestionMarkNow - yes, I work from home. I find it works ok but I am self employed, as is my partner.

I think there may be a few parents who come away from this thinking they could carry it on, yes

I won't be one of them